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RIS

Patented Nov. 15, 1887.

C. A. FREDERICKS.

RBFRIGBRATOR BUILDING.

(No Model.)

1 1 1 f I l l 1,/ l l I f f f Attorney.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHRISTIAN A. EEEDERIcKs, OE BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

REFRIGERAToR-BUILDlNG.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 373,229, dated November 15, 1887.

Application filed July 29, 1887. Serial No. 245,609. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern;

Be it known that I, GHRIsTIAN A. FRED'- ERIoKs, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Brooklyn,Kings county, New York,

have invented certain new and useful Improveeither within the storage-room or above it, as

herein shown, and in this reservoir I place a deep tight vessel for containing the refrigerant, which in this'case comprises a mixture of ice 'and salt. This vessel is in the nature of a tube or pipe of sheet metal, which stands on ling the How of air through the conduits.

end, and at its upper end projects through the ceiling into the charging-room above the room where the cold-air reservoir is constructed. The refrigerant-vessel is coveredat its charging end with a removable cap. An air-conduit conducts cold dry air from the bottom of the reservoir to the storage-room, which it enters at or near the ceiling thereof, and a Ventilating-conduit, which takes air from the ceiling or upper part of the storage-room, extends up into the room above and discharges said air into the cold-air reservoir at or near its top. ThusI obtain a circulation ofvcold dry air downward through the cold-air reservoir, the air being admitted to and taken from the storage room at the ceiling. Suitable dampers or valves are employed for control- As the film of air in the lower part of the cold-air reservoir surrounding the refrigerant-vessel becomes extremely cold, and as the air taken from the storage-room and admitted to the upper part of said reservoir is often humid and sometimes charged quite heavily with moistu re from thecarcassesin thestorage-room, I nd that this moisture will collect on the walls of the refrigerant-vessel in the forml of frost, and will accumulate thereon at times to such an extent as to substantially fill the narrow space between the wall of said vessel and the adjacent wall of the cold-air reservoir. In any case the coating of frost forms a sort of heat -intercepting jacket on the refrigerantvessel and impairs the efficiency of the latter as a heat-absorber. To obviate this difficulty and to provide an efficient and simple means of preventing the accumulation of frost on the refrigerant-vessel, as well as to remove the moisture from the air passing through the coldair reservoir, is one of the mostimportant objects of my invention. I effect this result by providing the refrigerant-vessel with a narrow annular drip aperture or apertures near its upper end, through which the brine from the charging end or receiver of said vessel will ooze or drip and flow on and over the exterior surface of the refrigerant-vessel, so as to keep vsaid surface constantly wet with brine. This brine will prevent the formation of frost on the surface it covers, and it will also absorb the moisture from the air and carry it off into the drip pan or trough below. The brine of course is furnished bythe mixture of ice and salt placed inthe hopper-like upper end or receiver of the refrigerant-vessel.

In order that my invention may be more fully understood, reference may be had to the accompanying drawings, wherein- Figure l is a vertical sectional elevation of a building provided with my refrigerating devices. Fig. 2 is a detached and enlarged view, partly in section, of one of the refrigerant-vessels; and Fig. 3- is a transverse section of said refrigerant-vessel on line 3 3 in Fig. 2. Figs. 4 and 5 illustrate slightly-modified constructions that will be hereinafter described.

In Fig. 1, which shows the preferred arrangement,-A represents the storage-room or room to be kept cool; A', a room above the storageroom, containing the coldair reservoir and refrigerant-vessels, and AZ the charging room above room A. The rooms A A should have walls and ceilings constructed to prevent the passage of heat to the rooms from the outside.

a is `the door leading tothe storage-room, and a a are suitable windows to admit light thereto.

B B are the cold-air reservoirs, in this case shown as arranged at the sides of the room A', and formed by partitioning off a narrow space therefrom with heat-intercepting partitions b b.

C C are the upright refrigerant-vessels arranged in the reservoirs B B. These vessels may stand side by side in the reservoir-'and be set at any desired distance apart. Their num- IOO ber will depend on the size of the storage-room and the reduction of temperature desired. I usually construct the vessel C open at the bottom, and set it on a block or beam, c, which will leave space enough for the water to drip out below into a drip pan or trough, d, whence it will be led away in the usual manner. As sawdust from the ice and other debris will in time accumulate at the bottom of vessel C, I usually provide said vessel with an opening in its side near the bottom. In the drawings a wicket or slide, e, arranged to play in vertical guides, is shown. This wicket closes such an opening; and in partition b may be placed a tightly-closing door opposite wicket e, to provide access to the latter. Any means of cleaning may be used, however. This feature forms no essential part of my present invention. The vessel C has tight nonaper tured walls when in usethat is, the wicket e will be closed, normally-and the air which ows down around vessel C does not collie in contact with the ice (G in Fig. 2) at any point. At its upper end, which projects up through the ceiling of room A', the vessel C is provided with a somewhat-enlarged hopper-like receiver, cx, provided with a cap or cover, c.

D is a conduit leading from the lower part of reservoirB to room A, which it enters at the ceiling. There may be any desired number of these conduits, and they admit cold dry air to the storageroom. Each conduit has a valve or damper, g, to cut 0H and regulate the ilow of air through the same.

Eis a conduit leading from the ceiling of the storage-room up into the room above and entering the cold-air reservoir at or near its top. This conduit should enter the storageroom at a point as far as convenient from the point where conduit D enters said room. Gonduit E draws off the warmer moist air from room A and delivers it into the top of the cold-air reservoir. It is or may be provided with a regulating valve or damper, gx, similar to that of the conduit D. There may be any desired number of these conduits E.

Referring most particularly to Figs. 2 and 3, I will now describe the construction of the vessel C and the device or means whereby the formation of frost thereon is prevented. Ordinarily,in constructing this vessel I make the receiver cX separate from the body of vessel C and construct its lower end to slip over and fit loosely about the end of said vessel, so as to leave between them, where they overlap, a very narrow annular outlet or passage, h, Figs. 2 and 3, down which the brine may drip or ooze from the receiver. This downwardlydirected passage or outlet should be so narrow or contracted as to prevent too copious an outiow of the brine, but of sufficient width to allow a continuous drip. A simpleloosely-iitted telescope-joint will serve. The brine will always keep the passage filled and prevent the entry of air thereat, and it will fiow down and over the vessel by gravity. This drip-passage h should be at the upper part of the vessel C, so as to keep all the surface of said vessel moistened with brine, and I find it convenient to form said passage at thejunction of the receiver 0X with the body of the vessel. However, thejoint forming the said passage might be in the body ofthe vessel itself at a point a little below the receiver. There might also be more than one joint of this kind, with a drip-passage 1L at each. This would be advisable where vessel C is very long.

In Fig. 4 I have shown the upper portion of a vessel C as having ajoint in its body inst below receiver cX anda drip-passage h thereat.

In Fig. 5, which is a cross section at the joint, I have shown the outeraud upper tubular member of the joint slightly crimped, so as to divide up the annular passage It into several passages arranged around the body of the vessel C.

Fig. 5 is on a larger scale than the other figures.

Any similarly-constructed downwardly-directed narrow interstitial passage (or passages) will serve, so long as the object sought is effected, which is to keep the exterior surface of the body of vessel C moistened with brine from the interior of the vessel above.

In Fig. 5 the passages h 7L are made somewhat wide,and are shown as loosely filled with some fibrous or textile material,h, which takes up the brine like a wick and delivers it to the surface of the vessel below.

It should be understood that while my refrigerant-vessel C is open at the bottom, and has a wicket-closed aperture, e, for cleaning out near the bottom, and has the narrow outlet-passages h for the brine near the top, it is a tight vessel in the sense that the air iiowing down and around it does not come in contact with the ice in said vessel, and is therefore kept dry. If the walls of vessel C were made of wire-gauze, for example, or of perforated metal, my object would be defeated. Having a vessel with tight non-apertured walls, I employ in connection therewith my device for preventing frost from forming on said walls. If frost should form during the period just preceding the renewal of the ice and salt, as it may to some extent, the brine flowing down IOO IIO

after the renewal will remove the same completely.

In my pending application, Serial No. 235, 185, I have shown a refrigerating apparatus with a tight cold-air reservoir and a tight refrigerating-vessel similar to vessel C arranged therein. I have also shown in said application conduits for air leading from the storageroom at its ceiling to said cold-air reservoir. Iwish to say that I do not herein claim these features, broadly, but only their special arrangement, as represented in Fig. l, and the device for preventing the accumulation of frost on the refrigerant vessel. This last-named device may, however, be employed on refrigerant-vessels arranged in various ways, and it is not limited to the peculiar arrangement of the refrigerantvessel and cold-air chamber as seen in Fig. 1. For example, it is immaterial, so far as this frost-preventing device is concerned, how the reservoir B is placed with respect to the storage-room A, or how the conduits D E are arranged with respect to said reservoir.

Having thus described my invention, I claim- 1. In a refrigerating apparatus, the combination, with a storage-room, of a deep tight contracted cold-air reservoir arranged above the ceiling of said room, a deep vessel for the refrigerant with tight or nonapertured -walls arranged in said reservoir, a conduit for cold dry air extending from near the bottom of said cold-air reservoir to' the storageroom and opening into same at the ceiling, an air-conduit extending from the storage-room at its ceiling to the upper part of said reservoir, and means, substantially as described, for controlling the flow' of air through said conduits, as

' set forth.

2. A refrigerant-vessel for containing ice and salt, provided with a narrow downwardlydirected passage, h, at its upper part for the brine to ooze or drip through over the exterior surface of said vessel, substantially as and for the purposes set forth. y,

3. An upright refrigerant-vessel, C, of elon- 3o gated tubular form, made from sheet metal in two parts or sections, thelower sectionextending upward into the upper section telescopically, whereby a narrow downwardly-directed annular passage is formed between the two for 3 5 the brine` to ooze or drip through and from, substantially as set forth. v

4. The upright refrigerant-vessel C, provided wth one or more downwardly directed narrow oulet-passages, h, close to its body, said passage or passages being tlled with fibrous material, h,`t0 take up and deliver the brine, substantially as set forth.

In witness whereof I have hereunto signed my name in the presence of two subscribing 45 witnesses.

CHRISTIAN A. FREDERICKS.

Witnesses:

HENRY CONNETT, J. L. OAPLINGER'. 

